


The Way I Am

by illustrious (ClaryZloty)



Category: Olympics RPF
Genre: AU, Davis and White - Freeform, F/M, Meryl and Charlie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 16:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1655723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaryZloty/pseuds/illustrious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meryl Davis and Charlie White one shot: a surprise wedding invitation, some teasing, and lots of giggling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way I Am

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't planning on writing anything worth posting but I was inspired to write a little Meryl and Charlie drabble. It's a bit wandering, but I hope you like it.

The invitation was a half surprise.   
It wasn’t a surprise that Tessa and Scott were getting married. Everyone had always imagined that it would happen—everyone had known for years. It had been almost three years since Sochi now, and though Meryl and Charlie hadn’t heard very much from their Canadian former competitors, she imagined that at some point they had given up on pretenses and just gone out with each other (much like what had happened with her and Charlie, actually). So the fact that Tessa and Scott were now engaged wasn’t that much of a shock.  
What was weird was that this was the first they had heard of it.  
Sure, Tessa and Scott packed up and moved out of Canton not too long after the Olympics. Meryl and Charlie hadn’t heard much from them since, just little things here and there. They saw pictures of the Canadian Stars on Ice tour, and Tessa texted them every now and then during Dancing With The Stars to let her know that she and Scott were watching and voting. Meryl knew good and well that the Canadians were disappointed and jealous and that it was hard for them to see Meryl and Charlie happy with their gold medals—Meryl knew because after Vancouver, she felt the same way. The difference was, after Vancouver, Meryl could strive for the next Olympics. Now, there was no next Olympics for the Canadians. They were done, had finished off their career with a silver in Sochi. Meryl could imagine very clearly how disappointing that must feel.   
So sure, after Stars on Ice and Dancing With The Stars and everything was over, Meryl and Charlie didn’t hear much from Tessa and Scott, which was a little strange for them, having been such close friends in the past, and then at least competitors, training together every day. But Meryl would have expected that she would have heard about an engagement. Read about it on a forum somewhere, seen it on Instagram or Twitter or Tumblr, a text from Tessa or Marina. Some of their mutual friends might have told them. Something. Anything. But no, even though no one was particularly shocked, the invitation still came out of nowhere and knocked the breath out of Meryl when she opened the thick, formal envelope addressed to her and Charlie’s apartment in Ann Arbor.  
Meryl studied the black, white, and mint green invitation, sitting at the kitchen table in the quiet apartment. Charlie had left to buy groceries an hour and a half ago, and should have been back any moment. DJ and Erin, their labradoodle puppy, were still at Jaqui’s house. She would be bringing them over later. Meryl had just been to the post office to pick up all their mail that had been collected for them while they were in Japan for the past three weeks for a skating competition and their personal vacation. Meryl and Charlie weren’t competing anymore—they had done one more season after the Olympics as a farewell, but Meryl had found it oddly boring. What used to excite her and make her nervous was now nothing. Grand Prix finals were a piece of cake when she had an Olympic gold medal at home, and no one was particularly surprised to see them win everything. They went to Japan this fall for the competition because that was what they were used to, and they wanted to see their Japanese fans and all their friends compete. After the competition, though, they stayed another two weeks, vacationing by themselves. It had been a wonderful trip, but Meryl was glad to be home now.   
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and their families invite you . . . Meryl read over the invitation for the millionth time. It was on May 18 of the following year in London, Ontario. Meryl had already looked at her calendar, and it was a Saturday that they had free.   
Meryl sighed, pulling her phone out of her purse. She unlocked it and found Tessa’s cell number in her contacts. She was surprised she still had it. She tapped to open a new text message.   
What could she possibly say? Hi, I know we haven’t spoken in like two years but thanks for inviting me to your wedding. Possibly the best thing about this is that seeing you guys get married might make my dumb boyfriend realize that it’s about time to propose. Meryl chuckled, thinking that that might not go down so well. And if she was being honest with herself, she had been ready for Charlie to propose about eighteen months ago. She was still waiting.   
Hey, it’s Meryl, Meryl typed, in case Tessa had deleted her number or gotten a new phone. Just got your invitation, congratulations! It was good to hear from you and will see you soon hopefully.   
It wasn’t entirely true, and Meryl hesitated for a few seconds before hitting send, but she did. There was no immediate response, but Meryl wasn’t surprised. Tessa was probably pretty busy.  
She sighed. Tessa would make a beautiful bride. Meryl had looked at quite a lot of wedding dresses in the past months while Charlie wasn’t around, so she had a good idea of what appealed to her and what would probably appeal to Tessa, too.  
Alright, Meryl was hardly being fair, to herself or Charlie. She wasn’t sitting around day after day desperately waiting to get married. In fact, she hardly ever thought about it. She had plenty to do and she was happy with her life. Marriage had never been very high on her list of priorities, and until very recently, there was so much traveling and learning and working that she had still wanted to do that getting married would only get in her way and slow her down. But she had thought about it, and after moving in with Charlie, she had realized in her orderly, goal-oriented way, that getting married was the next step. Charlie had never said a single thing about it. Meryl wasn’t worried that he didn’t want to or anything. She could read his mind, and she knew that the only reason he hadn’t looked into it was because he simply hadn’t thought about it. He was dumb like that.   
Perhaps Tessa and Scott getting married would plant the idea in his head. Or maybe he would still be oblivious. Meryl was beginning to consider taking things into her own hands.  
Until then, there was still plenty to do. A wedding meant Meryl had an excuse to buy a nice new dress and shoes and everything. She was excited about that. And as awkward as things may have been between them, Meryl was happy for Tessa. They had once been friends, and now that they were no longer competing against each other, Meryl half hoped that they could rekindle their friendship.  
The front door creaked open, and Meryl slid out of her chair to go greet Charlie. As soon as he saw her, he started babbling about some guy he had met at the grocery store and had a long conversation about hockey with. Meryl was only half listening as she set the heavy plastic bags on the counter and started putting things away. She was thinking more along the lines of what the weather would be like in London in May and what level of formality the wedding might be. She did notice, however, that Charlie’s pants had come unzipped at some point, but she didn’t say anything about it.  
“He’s the highest scoring player on the Erie Otters over in Pennsylvania, but he’s just signed on to play for the Canucks, so that’s awesome,” Charlie was saying. “His name is Fox, so remind me to keep an eye out for that name in the future. He’s a pretty awesome guy, recognized me and everything. I didn’t hear what he’s doing here in Ann Arbor, though, if he lives in Erie . . . Meryl?”   
Meryl looked up from the refrigerator where she was arranging the vegetable drawer to make room for the produce he had brought home, to see him tentatively picking up the invitation from the kitchen table. “Huh,” he said, reading over it. “Is this what’s on your mind?”  
Meryl sighed and nodded, standing up and closing the refrigerator. “It was buried in the mail pile from the post office. It’s not really unexpected, it’s just--,”  
“You expected to hear something about it before now,” Charlie finished for her. “Yeah.”   
Meryl pushed some things aside in the cabinet to make room for a new box of Nutrigrain bars. “We don’t have anything that weekend, though, so I was thinking we could go up on Friday and spend the whole weekend in London.”  
“Sure. We don’t have to worry about it right now, though.” Charlie grabbed her as she was walking across the kitchen and pulled her into his arms. “Are you alright?”  
Settling her head against his chest and relaxing into his comforting hold, Meryl nodded. “It’s just weird. Tessa’s younger than me. We’ve known them for so long, gone through so much with them, and now they’re getting married. People all around us are growing up and having kids and it’s just bizarre because these are my friends and we’re all officially adults now. I feel like, with skating and everything, we grew up so fast and left everyone else behind, but now we’re the ones falling behind.”   
“I get what you’re saying,” Charlie said. “I couldn’t have put it into so many words, but I get it.”   
Meryl looked up at him, feeling like there was something more he wanted to say. “What?”  
Sheepishly he asked, “Does this have anything to do with you turning thirty next year?”   
Meryl sighed. It was November, and her looming thirtieth birthday was something that she had definitely thought about, more than she should have. But she playfully punched Charlie’s arm, like he expected. “Don’t joke about my age,” she chastised. “You look older anyway.”   
He gasped, pretending to be hurt. “That is so . . . actually that’s totally true. You don’t look a day over 12, babe.”  
“Oh no. You’re going to pay for that.” Meryl narrowed her eyes and pulled away, pretending to be angry, even though the “body of a twelve year old” joke was one that she had heard a million times and didn’t really care about anymore, plus, she knew that Charlie was totally joking. He knew exactly how mature her body was.   
None of that stopped her from ducking quickly to unbutton his pants and give them a firm tug. She backed away quickly, cackling at the look on his face when he realized that his pants were around his ankles.   
“If you wanted to take my clothes off, all you had to do was ask,” he said, reaching down to pick his dignity up off the floor. Meryl continued to giggle. He glared at her, which made her giggle harder.   
He started walking slowly towards her, and she backed away from him, laughing. She was fast, but he was faster. He darted towards her and scooped her up and before she realized it, he was draping her around his shoulders and she clung onto him, even though she knew she didn’t need to, continuing to giggle as he marched upstairs.   
“No, no, no, I have to make dinner,” she complained as he opened the bedroom door, but her giggling betrayed her. She stuck her arms and legs out and hung onto the doorframe as he tried to enter, and she could barely keep her balance on his back because they were both laughing so hard.   
Charlie pulled against her body but she hung onto the doorway with all her strength, making it impossible for him to get in without dropping her. At least, until he started tickling her. He shifted under her so that he was holding onto her with only one hand, and with the other, started tickling her stomach. She was hopeless. “I give up,” she said through her laughter, and when he was ready, let herself fall into his strong arms. Despite the acrobatics at the top of the stairs, Meryl knew that she had never been in any real danger. She smiled and kissed him sweetly, putting her hands in his thick hair and twirling until it was all tangled. Those knots would be fun to comb out later, she thought, giggling mischievously as he set her down gently on the bed and started pulling at her clothes.   
Meryl had no trouble getting Charlie out of his clothes. His sweatshirt and tee came off easily. He hadn’t waxed his chest in a few weeks now, and she giggled again, running her hands down his prickly skin.   
“Giggling isn’t really the response I want when I take off my shirt,” he complained as he lifted her from the bed so he could get her sweater off.   
“I’m sorry, would you prefer I chuckle when you take your pants off?” she teased sweetly.   
His jeans had joined the heap on the floor and Meryl was laughing again at his efforts to get her tight new leggings off of her when, downstairs, the doorbell rang.   
Charlie had a look of horror on his face, and he dropped his head down onto Meryl’s bare chest in exasperation. “That’s my mom,” he groaned.   
She blew his hair out of her face. “I better get dressed, then,” she said. “The dogs will be excited.”   
He kissed her sternum and pushed himself up off the bed. “We’re not done here,” he promised, grabbing his pants and shirt and yanking them on before hurrying down the stairs to greet his mother.


End file.
